XG Talk Touring North America and Being Inspired By Their ALPHAZ: ‘So Much Good Energy From Them’
K-pop girl group XG have been on the road all year in 2024, kicking off their first world tour, The First Howl, in Osaka, Japan in May. They then made their way across Asia and played a series of sold out shows in North America in October, winding down on Oct. 21 with a gig at Wintrust Arena in Chicago.
Along the way, group member MAYA tells Billboard they have been delighted to see their superfans, the ALPHAZ, coming out in huge numbers. “We had so much fun [and] we met so many of our U.S. ALAPHAZ and they were all dressed up with amazing cool outfits, they sang top to bottom… so much good energy from them,” she says of the love they felt from their American supporters in the full video you can watch above.
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After completing their Asian swing, HARVEY adds that the seven-member group took that good energy and used to to fuel their performances, saying it was a nice “give-and-take” that has hyped them up in advance of the upcoming European leg of the outing. JURIN says it’s also been nice to add new songs and choreography to the mix along the way. They’ve had a lot of fresh tracks to beef up their set list thanks to a clutch of new songs they’ve released this year, including the Valorant video game soundtrack tune “Undefeated” in April and “Woke Up” in May, followed by “Something Ain’t Right” in July and “IYKYK” in October. They also dropped their second EP, Awe, last month, which featured the latter three tracks as well as the 8-track mini-album’s first single, “Howling.”
“We want each performance to be fresh and exciting,” JURIN says of adding “IYKYK” and “Something Ain’t Right” into the live mix. “Whether they are longtime ALPHAZ or seeing us for the first time.” And no surprise, she notes that even though the songs were brand new when they began the North American swing, ALPHAZ already knew the choreography and the lyrics.
The women also discuss the concept behind AWE, with JURIN explaining the EP that mixes up R&B with upbeat dance tunes and the signature hip-hop/pop style they are known for was inspired by, “the sense of curiosity and shock people experience when they encounter something new. We hope that through our album you can feel awe and experience many surprising and exciting moments.”
Elsewhere the group — member Cocona was not present for the interview — talk about the outer space theme of the “IYKYK” video and how sometimes their own style is inspired by outfits they see on ALPHAZ in the audience. Watch the full interview above.
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